


Dad Remus

by NetSlayer



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Depression, Fighting, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other, Parental remus, Remus is a dad, Remus is a sweetheart, Yelling, dad remus, dadmus, no beta we die like men, they all need a dad, virgil is depressed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:42:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28990179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NetSlayer/pseuds/NetSlayer
Summary: There's not enough Parental Remus out there y'all.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Virgil slammed his door and fell on his bed sobbing through uneven breaths, he hated crying, he hated his life, and he hated what just happened.....Virgil couldn’t help but call out to him.“I want my dad.”
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 44
Kudos: 109





	1. DAD? (And a surprisingly good one too)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! College sucks ass right now, I have started many new stories and I still need to continue other stories.
> 
> I am having meltdowns every week or every other day.
> 
> Have a chaotic parental figure.
> 
> Enjoy!

Virgil slammed his door and fell on his bed sobbing through uneven breaths, he hated crying, he hated his life, and he hated what just happened.

It was a normal day that turned to shit when Roman started smack talking the other dark sides. They were partially accepted at this point and Virgil didn’t like it as much as the next side but it  _ was _ beneficial for Thomas’s health (and maybe for his as well). Apparently when Virgil tried to defend them, Roman saw this as an act of treason which got the others involved. The fight escalated to the point where Virgil was already on the verge of a panic attack.

“Oh what now? You’re going to panic and ruin Thomas’s day?” Roman taunted, the thought that the darks could really be part of Thomas’s life scared Roman.

“Shut up Roman!” Virgil yelled, his voice shaky but also distorted.

“No! You ruin everything! No wonder you defend those villains! You are one!” The room went silent and Virgil broke down crying and ran to his room, that’s where he was now, locked in his room only to be comforted by one person. 

Yet, in his mind he knew they would want nothing to do with them, but Virgil couldn’t help but call out to him.

“I want my  _ dad _ .” He begged, over and over he called out for ‘dad’ while pushing his face further into his pillows and blankets, silently hoping to suffocate himself.

He wasn’t expecting  _ him _ to show up but when Virgil felt a dip in the mattress he looked over to see the person he was just crying for. He lunged forward and grappled the side into a hug, burying his face into the strong chest. He didn’t care that he was still crying like a pitiful child, his dad was here now.

“What happened shadowing?” A nasally voice above him called, Virgil looked up to Remus’s face, the tears blurring his vision. But if he could see, he would see Remus’s face scrunched up with worry. When Virgil couldn’t say anything but sob, Remus nodded and rubbed his back humming a tune with no real meaning to it. Once his sobs turned into small sniffles, Virgil still refused to let go and refused to tell him what happened.

“Do you want your brother?” Virgil nodded his head and Remus summoned Janus.

“Dad? What happened to Virgil?” Janus rushed over to his little brother, as long as they could remember Remus always took care of them and protected them.

“I’m not sure, but I’m going to find out. Cuddle him and keep him calm until I come back, then afterward we can have a discussion.” Janus nodded and Remus pawned Virgil off to Janus who started crying all over again. Remus sank down to the living area of the common room and summoned his morning star before walking right in front of the so-called “light sides”.

“What are you doing here, villain?” Roman yelled at his brother, summoning his sword and charging at Remus. Normally Remus would love a good play fight with his brother but at the moment he was fucking pissed.

Somebody made his son cry and there was hell to pay.

Remus easily dodged the attack while Patton and Logan tried to deescalate the fight, Remus simply grabbed the sword from Roman and made him sit down. When Patton and Logan tried to intervene he made them sit down too, now all three were sitting in front of him as he crossed his arms waiting.

“Does anyone want to tell me why I found  _ my _ son crying his eyes out in his room?” The room was silent, the ticking from the clock became deafening, until Patton spoke up.

“Your  _ son _ ?” Patton echoed, Remus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Yes,  _ my _ son,  _ Virgil, _ emo aesthetic, wears purple, was crying his eyes out to the point he could barely breathe. Anyone would like to explain or should I just start bashing heads?” To emphasize his point he swung his morning star a bit.

“Virgil is not your son, Patton is the father figure here.” Roman sneered, Remus turned his head so fast his neck snapped, but that didn’t matter. Over the years he’s mastered the parental glare and Roman was not used to it coming from  _ Remus _ . Obviously he began feeling guilty while being under it.

“Oh really? I didn’t realize it was  _ Patton _ ,” He nearly spat out the word, “Who raised Janus and Virgil. I didn’t realize it was  _ Patton _ who stayed up with them through night terrors. I didn’t realize it was  _ Patton _ who would soothe their worries, help them while sick, kiss their boo-boos, praise their accomplishments, and helped them grow into the sides they are today. Now do I have to ask again?” The room was quiet, until Logan spoke up.

“A fight broke out and Virgil got…..overwhelmed.” Remus snorted and stared down at the nerd; Logan noticed there was a difference in his stare. It wasn’t the usual manic stare, it was something more protective. Something more parental, and it made Logans’ skin metaphorically crawl.

“Alright then, new question. Who started the fight?” Patton immediately was on the defense.

“Nobody started the fight, we were having a civil discussion that got out of hand and Virgil just-“

“Had a panic attack, begging for me to help him, and cried the life out of his body.” Remus finished for Patton. He could tell they didn’t want to tell him exactly what happened, even Roman was staying quiet. 

It was pissing him off.

“Fine nobody wants to tell me exactly what happened, or who started the fight. You’re all in time out.” Before anyone could argue or interject, Remus snapped his fingers and had them all facing the wall in different corners of the room.

“I will be back in ten minutes, if I find that any of you moved you will be in even bigger trouble.” Remus growled low and deadly, making them all flinch and straighten their back. With that Remus went to go check up on Virgil and Janus. When he walked in, he found both his boys cuddling up next to each other. Virgil was asleep while Janus was awake carding his fingers through he young emo’s hair.

“What happened?” Janus whispered as Remus got on the other side of Virgil. The poor boy looked exhausted, it stung Remus’s heart and not in a good way.

“They said there was a discussion and a fight broke out and that Virgil got overwhelmed. Sensed anything?” He asked his eldest son, Virgil was the last side to fully form and therefore became the baby of the family.

“A lot of lies of omission, what did you do?” Remus gave him a soft smile before pushing Janus’s hat off and ruffling his hair.

“Put them in time out for ten minutes, told them if they moved they’d be in even bigger trouble.” Janus flicked his tongue at Remus who chuckled softly. They stayed like that for a few more minutes until Remus looked at his watch.

“Stay here, I’m going to go try again.” Remus went back downstairs and found Patton and Roman still seated but Logan was nowhere to be seen. He sighed, he expected Roman to disobey but not Logan.

Then again, Logan  _ thinks _ Remus can’t hurt him. Patton slumped a little in his chair while Roman was fidgeting from side to side, obviously not used to sitting in one place without something to stimulate him. Remus pondered for a minute before snapping his fingers, Patton and Roman flinched at suddenly being moved back onto the couch.

“Where’s Logan?” Remus asked calmly, Patton and Roman looked around for a second before answering.

“Probably to his room to finish up work.” Roman said, Patton nodded along.

“Thank you, when I come back with him. I want an honest answer on who started the fight and what it was about.” Remus then sunk out and popped up into Logan’s room to find the logical side doing paperwork.

“I thought I said to stay seated in the corner.” Logan looked up from his paperwork and glanced at Remus.

“It's a childish punishment, when I could be doing work. Five minutes into your “punishment” I left to get this work done.” He turned back to his paperwork and Remus stalked over to him.

“I said you would be in even more trouble.” Remus said calmly, he heard Logan sighed.

“Nothing you do has real impact-“ Remus suddenly picked him up and maneuvered over to the bed and placed Logan over his knee. “Remus! What are you doing?” Logan tried to wiggle out, but Remus had an iron grip on the logical side.

“I have no real impact on  _ Thomas _ , Logan. But, you have a choice because I’m a lot calmer now than I was ten minutes ago. Either I  _ spank _ you right here and now, or I spank you right in front of Patton and Roman.” Logan became silent and Remus waited for his answer. When he did Logan’s voice was small.

“Here please.” Remus nodded and patted Logan’s back.

“Good boy, now you had five minutes left on timeout so I’ll do five hits and we can go back downstairs, ok?” He heard a small ok, and Remus started. It was swift and hard, the first one made Logan cry out in surprise but then stayed quiet for the other four hits. When they were done, Logan wouldn’t look at him and had a few tears. Remus wiped them away and helped Logan stand up. Remus couldn’t help his maternal instincts kicking in, wanting to soothe the nerd. 

“You did such a good job taking your punishment, now let's’ go downstairs.” Logan could only nod mutely as Remus grabbed his hand and brought him back downstairs. Remus sat the embarrassed side down, gently, next to Patton. Remus took in one final breath and was now almost completely calm.

“Last chance, tell me the truth.” Logan didn’t look up, Patton was staring at Remus strangely and Roman was looking anywhere but Remus while looking incredibly guilty.

“Roman? Is there anything you want to say?” Remus asked very calmly, it was unnerving to Roman. To see his normally crazed brother, being so calm, and parent-like? He shifted in his seat for a second before answering.

“I started the fight.” He said softly, he really didn’t want to admit to this in front of Logan and Patton, and especially not Remus. He heard Remus sigh and he dismissed Logan and Patton to go to their rooms. Roman was staring at the ground as Remus sat next to him. Roman couldn’t help but think what punishment Remus would do, hell he knocked him out for a video for  _ fun _ ! 

And yet.

As much as they fight, argue, and hurt each other; Remus still loves his brother and didn’t want to give him another punishment, but he did make Virgil cry. Remus was torn between his maternal instincts for Virgil and his instincts for Roman. For Roman it was a weird mixture, Remus definitely  _ acted _ more childish, but Roman really was more childish. 

Dealing with Thomas’s repressed thoughts make you grow up fast when reality hits you all at once.

“What happened?” Roman had never heard Remus’s voice so soft before; he didn’t know whether to be relieved or scared shitless. Taking a deep breath he tried not to let his voice shake.

“I came in angry and started ranting about you and Janus, Virgil came to your guys’s defense and I snapped and called him a villain.” The room became silent, Roman waited for Remus to start yelling at him, for Remus to hit him again with his morning star, for anything violent and aggressive. Not a gentle arm being wrapped round him for a hug. That’s when he noticed he was crying, this was not the Remus Roman knew. The Remus Roman knew  _ yelled _ ; he would hit and bite, he wasn’t scared of anything. He would spit in God’s face and laugh at the Devil. This Remus was soft and sweet, sure, at first he was pissed but that was understandable. He had no idea this version of Remus even  _ existed _ .

“Thank you for telling me the truth, I know that must be hard for you.” Roman relaxed slightly. “However, you still made Virgil cry.” Roman tensed again and tried to not let his fear show as his brother did have a very strong hold on him.

“So, how about another ten minutes in timeout? This will give you time to think of a proper apology for Virgil, then I’ll take you to see him ok?” Roman let out a sob, timeout was actual torture. There was nothing stimulating him, but he would take this over anything else Remus probably had in store for him. Remus rubbed his brothers back and motioned him back to timeout and this time sat with Roman halfway through timeout before leaving to check up on Janus and Virgil.

“Dad?” Janus called out, Remus walked over and ruffled his hair, Virgil was still asleep and looking a lot calmer now. “Dad, what happened?” Remus sighed and leaned back.

“Logan got up five minutes into time out after I told him not too. Spanked him for it, but Roman confessed honestly about what happened and has about another five minutes of timeout before he properly apologizes to Virgil.” Janus nodded, carding his fingers through Virgil’s hair. Remus looked over his youngest baby, he looked awful.

Skin as white as a dead corpse, sunken eyes, thin brittle hair, cold to the touch, and if he checked underneath Virgil’s clothes he would see how malnourished Virgil really was. This wasn’t his baby boy, this wasn’t the baby he remembered leaving.

The baby he remembered had muscles to fight God with, his skin was pale, not white. He had more warmth than an icicle and had the fluffiest and messiest hair you’ve ever seen.

“Is Virgil sick?” Janus asked, looking closer at his youngest brother. If Remus was busy, Janus would watch over the dark sides despite how much Janus and Virgil seem to fight. He still cared for his younger brother. 

“Maybe,” Remus’s thoughts trailed off as he looked at his watch. It was time to grab Roman, he made his way off the bed, but not before pressing a kiss to each of his boys foreheads.

“Wake him up please, Roman will be coming up.” Janus nodded and Remus walked out. He made his way down the stairs and his eyes immediately landed on Roman, but Patton was there with him. Whispering something in his ear, Roman shook his head and looked down. Patton sighed and sunk out, Remus then walked over to his brother who was gripping his hair. Once again, maternal instincts were kicking in with a hint of big brother protectiveness. 

God did he hate how mature and responsible he’s become. 

“Hey, hey, hey, no, no, no don’t do that Roman. That’s not healthy.” Remus whispered gently undoing Roman’s fingers from his hair. Something wasn’t right and Remus didn’t like it, but right now the most important thing to do was to get Roman to remain calm.

Because at the moment he was crying again. Remus briefly wondered if the lights didn’t cry enough? Janus and Remus cried weekly when things got too overwhelming to deal with, that is what crying is for. It helps to cope with things that are too much. That’s why Virgil cried a lot back at home, everything was too much and he would cry constantly.

Thankfully, Remus and Janus helped Virgil turn his crying into workouts. It helped, Virgil stopped crying so much, gained enough muscle to hold his own and truly understood that he was flight or fight. He still cried, just not as much.

Once Roman was more calm, Remus had him practice his apology out loud in the common room. 

“Oh, um. Ok, Virgil, I am deeply sorry for what I said about you and the others. I started the fight out of old bias’s and said what I said with the intent to hurt you so that I could win.” Roman waited with bated breath, as Remus stared at him. It was unnerving.

“That was good, that is a proper apology and I know Virgil will forgive you.” Roman relaxed a bit, the praise, albeit coming from Remus, felt good. Together they walked up the stairs to Virgil’s room, Roman only hesitating for a moment before following his brother.

Inside Virgil’s room, Roman saw De-Janus and Virgil clinging onto each other on Virgil’s bed. Janus was staring right at him, and held onto Virgil a little tighter. Virgil, on the other hand, looked like he was about to pass out. His shoulders hunched up almost past his head, his hoodie blocking most of his face, and he was practically curled into himself and Janus.

“Virgil?” Roman whispered, walking over to the bed before kneeling down next to Janus and Virgil. Virgil slightly looked up and looked back down, leaning more into Janus. Roman looked over to Remus who just motioned him to continue on, so Roman took a deep breath and went through his apology.

“And I know this doesn’t make up for what I said, but I hope this can be the olive branch. You don’t have to forgive me now, or ever but I am truly sorry.” Roman waited for a second before moving up from the floor. Virgil took off his hoodie and shifted around a bit.

“You’re an idiot princey.” Virgil snarked, Roman turned to face him. Virgil gave him a small smile. “Of course I forgive you, let's just do better next time.” Roman smiled back and nodded.

“Yeah, I think we can do that.” And with that Roman left, leaving Virgil snuggled against his “brother” and his Dad on his bed. They said nothing to each other for a while, just sitting and breathing. Occasionally one of their hands will comb through Virgil’s hair, making him melt a little further into the bed. It was nice to be with his original family again, he wouldn’t lie, he missed being with Remus and Janus.

Janus and him would pull pranks all the time, and if they ever successfully pulled one over Remus, then they would get rewarded instead of punished. If they got caught they would either, one have to clean it up, or two pull it on the others. Remus would even give them tips and tricks on how to do it better. 

Virgil wondered if Janus still did them or if he stopped when he left? A coil of guilt weighed heavily in his stomach, he left them. He left them and he had the gall to call them for comfort? Well technically he called for Remus, and then Remus brought Janus, but still. Calling for a family you’ve practically abandoned to comfort you as you cried like a baby? His thoughts continued to swirl, unaware that he was sending himself into another panic attack. Luckily, or unluckily, Janus and Remus both picked up on his rising anxiety and immediately went into action.

“Scare bear breath for me.” Remus instructed, Janus placed Virgil’s hand over his own chest and did the breathing exercise Remus instructed. Having them both help him made Virgil spiral even more and ended up making him cry again.

“Virge?” Janus whispered, pushing Virgil’s hair out of his face. He didn’t remember when he took off his gloves, but he was glad he did. Virgil was filthy and Janus could feel the dirt in his hair and clothes. In fact looking around the room, Janus thought it was safe to say that Virgil made a perfect depression room. Filthy dirty clothes everywhere, trash little around like a garnish, food wrappers, and finally cups and dishes as far as the eye could see. Even sitting within the blankets it was dirty and filthy.

“Virgie?” Remus didn’t notice the messiness like how Janus did, instead he was more focused on calming down his little baby boy. “Baby bloody pop? What’s wrong?” Virgil pulled away and curled into himself, trying to stop his own crying.

“Virgil, we can’t help if you don’t tell us what’s wrong?’ Janus desperately tried to calm his brother down. Virgil only shook his head, as he took in a shuddering breath.

“Don’t.” Was all he could muster, before a fit of coughing and tears came. Remus patted his back as the coughing continued. 

“What do you mean honey?” Remus was trying to rack his brain for what Virgil could possibly be talking about.

“Don’t help me. I-I-I don’t de-de-deserve it.” Virgil stuttered like how a toddler would while trying to talk; trying to breath and talk all at once, while also becoming more infuriated.

“What do you mean you don’t deserve it?” Janus asked, he summoned a glass of water to give to Virgil. Virgil tried to push it away but after some gently nudging Virgil finally drank some water and was able to calm down a little bit.

“I-I, don’t deserve your help. I left you guys, I don’t. I don’t” Virgil found it frustrating to try and find the proper words to describe what he was feeling. He brought his fingers up to his own greasy hair and pulled, trying to simulate the words he needed. Instead Remus and Janus pulled his hands out of his hair, shushing him.

“Virgil, baby, look at me.” Remus instructed, Virgil looked up through bleary teary eyes.

“No matter what you do, no matter what you say, you are still family at the end of the day. You are still my son, yes you left, but it was to better yourself. To help Thomas.” It took all of Virgil’s will power not to start crying again, but that didn’t stop a coughing fit from happening.

“Virgil.” Virgil turned to see Janus, to really see Janus. He was without, his cape, gloves, and hat. “After you left, I was bitter and jealous, but I never wanted you to think that you weren’t welcomed back. In the end, as Dad said, we are still family. You’ll always be my brother.” 

“And you’ll always be my little baby spider.” Remus chimed in, from both sides Virgil was enveloped in a warm hug. They stayed like this for a small amount of time before Virgil had another coughing fit. That is when Remus really took in the sight of Virgil’s room.

“Tickle me emo, do you really live like this?” Remus asked shocked, finally realizing how dirty and filthy everything is. Normally he would love it, but not when his kids live in the midst of it. Even now if he went into Janus’s room and it was messy he would make his eldest clean his room.

“It’s fine.” Virgil rasped out, he still looked deathly sick, pale and thin. Remus and Janus had so many questions but at the moment they had to deal with one thing at a time.

“Baby, you need to clean your room.” Virgil whined, looking around the room. It was a lot to do, it would overwhelm him. “No, no, baby don’t worry. I’ll help you ok?” Remus was quick to calm the youngest, he hasn’t had this many attacks since he was little. Or at least last time Remus remembered.

“I’ll help too, but I think Virgil needs to be cleaned first.” Janus piped up, hygiene is also very important to Janus. Being part of self care and all.

“Ok, I’ll help him in a bath, do you want to try and find him some clean clothes for after? Then to start gathering up the laundry?” Janus nodded and ran off to the drawers of Virgil’s room, as Remus watched Virgil attempt to stand, but after two crying sessions it takes a lot of energy out of you. Remus helped Virgil all the way to the bathroom, once got the water he looked over to see Virgil fiddling with his sweater.

“Nightmare?” Remus called out to him, Virgil only sat on the toilet staring at the tub. “Do you need help undressing? I won’t touch or help anywhere unless you need me too.” Virgil didn’t say anything only stared harder at the tub, he was taken out of his trance when there was a knock at the door.

“Dad? Virgil? I have some towels and clean clothes.” Janus called to them, Remus opened the door for Janus to walk in. Remus noticed immediately the clothes that Janus brought weren’t Virgils.

Janus caught on.

“Oh, um everything Virgil owns is dirty, so I brought a pair from my closet.” Remus nodded and Janus walked out. Then it was just Virgil and Remus.

“Virgil do you want me to leave?” Remus asked, maybe Virgil just wanted to do this alone? Virgil shook his head "no". And maybe not.

“Do you need help?” Remus asked, Virgil shrugged. Remus tried not to sigh, he knew this emotional roller coaster of a day was causing Virgil to go non-verbal.

“Ok, this is what’s going to happen, my youngest eldritch horror. I’m going to undress you and bath you ok? We’ll use the color system that way you don’t have to talk. Tap one for green, twice for yellow, and multiple times for red ok?” Virgil tapped Remus once. Remus smiled and so the process began.

It was awkward at first, Remus hasn’t had bath time with his kid in literal years, but Virgil was obviously not well enough to be alone. He put a mental pin in his head to ask the others what’s going on with Virgil. Then again, he needs to talk to the others in general, even though Patton is the father figure he doesn’t seem to be doing a very good job.

That didn’t matter right now, right he just had to make sure his baby boy was going to be ok.

Right?


	2. A really good Dad??

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cleaning is hard, especially if it's a depression room.
> 
> Remus slowly begins to realize he might be the only emotionally stable side to actually be a parent and that is terrifying.
> 
> Patton realizes a few things.
> 
> Roman might need some help.
> 
> Logan is embarrassed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what happened, last semester I was alone and barely had any friends.
> 
> This semester I have gained about 14 friends and we are in a cult.
> 
> Still depressed.
> 
> Slowly falling behind classes.
> 
> I'm craving things I've never had before (cigarettes)
> 
> But you guys make the difference, you guys are my saving grace with your likes and comments.
> 
> Enjoy this chapter of nonsense!

Ok this might be harder than expected. Virgil was currently in the corner of his room looking at the ground. Janus and Remus did the best they could finding all the dirty laundry possible. Once they were satisfied they gave Virgil a trash bag and asked if he could hold it open for them while they gathered it all up. It was supposed to help make him feel accomplished.

Virgil just felt  _ bad _ .

His dad and his brother were helping him clean his mess. He knew they wanted to help but he just felt worse. This was his problem not theirs, they should be mad at him. They should be furious with him for leaving, for abandoning them. No matter how many times they tell him they weren’t mad. Nor angry, or furious, or anything negative.

In fact they said they still  _ loved _ him.

Now that was most likely a bold face lie.

“Hey, Virge hold the bag a little more open please?” Janus asked, Virgil snapped out of his thoughts and did as he was told. Once the trash and laundry were out of his room, now it was the most tedious and horrendous part of it all. 

Actual cleaning. To vacuum and wash the floors. Wash the walls and windows, dust the ceiling, get the stains out of the mattress, wash the drapes. Literally to just grab a bucket and mop and clean the entire room like that. Virgil stared at his room as Janus and Remus got the rest of the clutter out. 

Unaware of the conversation holding outside of his room.

“Ok Remus, this game has gone on long enough. I want to see Virgil.” Patton cheerfully smiled, too big and too fake for Remus to consider anything Patton says is valuable. 

“Look Patton, Virgil is not in the best mind set right now. Think of his brain as a rotting cemetery, not pleasant to be in.” Remus wasn’t sure how bad Virgil’s depression has gotten, but from his appearance and room, he would say it was pretty bad.

“Remus, Virgil has always been our gloomy boy, I’m sure he’s fine now.” Remus wanted to laugh at the serenity Patton held in his voice. 

“Remus?” Remus turned around to see Janus and Virgil standing behind him, both holding a load of dirty laundry. “Virgil and I are going to start sorting some of this laundry, may we get by?” Virgil hid a little bit behind Janus, not wanting to look up to either adult.

“Sure.” Remus simply said, stepping aside. Patton however didn’t.

“Oh, kiddos, why don’t you snap them clean?” Patton was about to do just that when Remus held his wrist. He then moved Patton to the side and let both of his boys through. Once they passed by, Remus let go of Patton who was now pouting at Remus.

God he really was a  _ child _ wasn’t he? It made Remus want to pinch his cheek, and tear them off and saute them in Patton’s blood. Maybe another day.

“Remus, that was very rude.” Patton continued to pout and cross his arms. Remus shrugged.

“It’s more satisfying to do everything by hand. It will give Virgil a feeling of accomplishment, that he did something  _ right _ .” Remus stated before snapping a bucket of soapy water, a mop, a vacuum, a couple of cleaning rags, and another trash bag. Just in case.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, they’ll be back soon and we still have a room to clean.” Remus walked away from a still pouting Patton and took in the sight of the room. Still looked dirty and disgusting, a couple of stains of something he did not want to know from what. 

First he got the drapes down and sat them on the filthy bed, there was probably enough dirt to cover a corpse. That gave him a lovely image of Virgil lying on his bed, covered in dirt as his eyes rolled back into his head with maggots crawling in and out of his face. 

Remus turned on the vacuum. He was barely aware of his two sons walking in until he finished vacuuming. It filled up quickly, so he emptied it into the trash bag and decided to go through the room one more time with it.

“Dad?” Virgil’s voice got him out of his little cleaning trance, he kept his face naturally as he looked at his youngest. Like in his thoughts, Virgil looked just like a corpse, minus the dirt and maggots.

“Yes squirt?” 

“What do you want us to do now?” Janus answered for Virgil, both looking a bit frazzled. Remus wasn’t going to pry, but he was curious on what could have possibly freaked his kids out.

“I would start washing the inside of the drawers so that when the laundry is done it has a clean place to be. Maybe also wash some of the hangers as well, we’ll let them air dry afterward. Then we can get started on the walls and window, and finally we can try and get the stains out of the bed and carpet.” Remus said after analyzing the room, both of his boys nodded and set to work. Taking the drawers out and carefully using the wash rags to wash them. Making sure any dirt or gunk got out, Remus continued to vacuum again, watching it fill up with more dirt and grime. 

Once the drawers were clean, Remus sent Virgil to go switch the laundry and to bring the drapes with him to be cleaned later. Once Virgil was out of the room, Remus grabbed Janus and gave him a long hug. Janus immediately slumped into his warmth, it was relaxing to be hugged by Remus. He always smelled like the earth, like he just rolled around in plants and freshly dug up dirt. On bad days he’ll smell like mold or like fish, sometimes he’ll smell like the sea, or sometimes he’ll smell like a campfire with burning meat.

“Patton talked to us in the laundry room.” Janus muttered, his face buried in Remus’s chest. Despite the look, the outfit was very soft and not at all scratchy like some believed. 

“What did he say?” Remus sighed, rocking them back and forth, with only the force of his heels.

“Said he wanted to know why you were playing  _ pretend _ dad with us.” Janus mumbled, pushing his face further into Remus' chest.

“What did you say?” Remus asked with a grin, when somebody questioned Remus’s parenting skills, its Janus who confronts them about it.

“Virgil beat me to it actually, said you were the one who technically raised us.” Janus stared blankly at the taller side. “Should have seen the look on Patton’s face, so shocked.” The blank look turned into a grimace. “Then he said something along the lines of ‘no wonder you were a dark side for so long.’ Then he left.” Once Janus was done, Remus held onto him a little bit longer to calm himself down, if he squeezed Janus hard enough would he pop like a pimple?

Nope not gonna think like that about his son, stay on track, he’s angry. 

Although, getting angry right now wasn’t going to help anybody. He stayed like that until Virgil walked in, Remus motioned for him to join. He slowly entered the hug, being surrounded by warmth made him a little bit happier than before.

“Janus told me about what happened with Patton in the laundry room.” Remus said nonchalantly, if he seemed angered or panicked about it then Virgil could have a bad reaction to his reaction.

“It doesn’t matter, I don’t care, you are my dad, not Patton. Patton is the dad  _ friend _ , you are my dad.” Virgil stated simply, they stayed like that for a few seconds before somehow him and Janus started a poking war within the hug. Remus only chuckled and let his boys go, who continued to try to poke and tickle each other. Remus let them have their little fun, even whenJanus brought out his extra arms and when Virgil brought out the shadows.

Of course everything stopped when Patton walked in with Logan in tow. Virgil and Janus didn’t notice them, but Remus did. Logan caught Remus’s eye and looked away Remus figured he was still a little bit embarrassed. Finally Janus and Virgil noticed Patton and Logan, stopping their small little scuffle.

“Virgil,” Patton started carefully, keeping an eye on Remus in the corner. “Logan and I would like to ask you some questions.” Patton smiled wide, trying to seem more friendly. It honestly made Remus want to laugh at how ridiculous Patton looked right now.

“About what?” Virgil asked hesitantly, despite ending the tickle war, Virgil’s shadows didn’t retract.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Logan started, keeping his face neutral towards Virgil. “But we are both very curious about your family relation and traditions with Remus and Janus.” Remus glanced at Janus, his face was also neutral, but there was a slight glare at Patton. The silence that hung in the air was deafening for Remus, he wanted to scream, yell, sing, and smash things just to hear something.

“Why don’t we discuss that after dinner, we still have a room to finish cleaning.” Janus mused, smirking.

“Wonderful, do you need any assistance with cleaning?” Logan asked Virgil, who just shook his head.

“No thanks I think we got it, see you guys later.” Virgil replied before they left, forgetting to close the door. After that interaction, they got back to cleaning and organizing, making small jokes here and there. They stopped for about an hour to grab some lunch when Roman walked in.

“Ro-bro!” Remus jumped up, lunging at his younger brother. Roman stumbled a bit but gained his balance as Remus cackled, Roman gave Virgil and Janus a small smile.

“What’s up Princey?” Virgil asked, Roman looked him up and down and motioned at his clothes. Virgil forgot he was technically wearing Janus’s clothes, which were bright yellow. “Oh, yeah laundry day.”

“Makes sense, I came by to grab a snack. How are you all doing?” Roman asked, slipping past to get a water bottle from the fridge.

“Helping Virgil clean his room.” Janus answered. “We were just having a lunch break.” Roman nodded and opened the bottle, taking a drink from it.

“Need any help?” Roman volunteered. Virgil shook his head no again and Roman nodded.

“Cool, I should probably clean my room too. It’s been a long time since I’ve cleaned it and it’s completely unorganized.” Roman laughed it off, waving his hand around. The conversation continued, but Remus was thinking about Roman’s room. Both being creativity means being messy, Remus tried to keep his an organized mess, but mess is mess. Should Remus go see how messy his brother’s room really is or leave it alone?

Sometimes he really hated his brain.

“I’ll be right back really quick.” Remus mentioned before sinking out in front of Roman’s room. He was about to open it when someone cleared their throat behind him.

“What are you doing?” Remus turned around to see Logan crossing his arms at him. 

“Going into Roman’s room?” 

“Why?”

“He said he hasn’t cleaned his room in a long time, I just wanted to see how messy it really was.” Remus explained leaning on Roman’s door. Logan sighed and dropped his arms.

“Patton already told him to clean his room, it’s probably fine.” Logan mentioned; Remus was unconvinced.

“You all really believe he’s a father figure don’t you?” Remus muttered before opening up Roman’s room. Logan tried to stop him but once he opened it, he was appalled. Trash was piled in each corner of the room, laundry was scattered, ideas were written down on walls and overlapping on papers, uneaten food stacked up on a desk, and so much more. Remus looked back at Logan who also looked very disgusted at Roman’s room.

“But Patton-”

“Patton is a  _ child _ playing pretend Logan, I’m sorry but this isn’t acceptable. This is probably worse than Virgil’s room. It doesn’t even look like he sleeps here!” Remus went over to Roman’s bed and lifted the covers to find dead bugs underneath it.

Yup, definitely worse than Virgil’s room. Without another word, Remus sunk out back to Roman and his kids. He waited until there was an appropriate stop in their discussion for him to intervene.

“Roman, you said your room is a mess?” Remus grinned widely, Roman looked confused for a second before nodding.

“Yeah, clothes and some trash that’s it.” Remus eye twitched, Virgil and Janus looked at each other and leaned slightly away from Remus. 

“I love trash, let me see it!” Remus said gleefully, poor Roman unaware he was leading him to a trap.

“I would rather not, you could get my bed dirty.” Remus almost laughed right at Roman for that.

“Nah, I would rather think of your bed being filled with dead bugs.” Roman finally froze up at that, looking fully at Remus.

“What a,... disgusting thought.” Roman said, trying and failing to act natural. Remus only smiled more, leaning his head to one side while staring down at his younger twin.

“Once we are done with Virgil’s room, we are cleaning yours.” Remus said and with that he walked back to Virgil’s room. His two kids followed in stride asking about Romans’ room. Remus explained what he saw and when he passed by Roman’s room he put a lock on it so that no one else could go inside it. 

It didn’t take long for them to finish cleaning Virgil’s room after that. They cleaned the walls and ceiling, finished washing the drawers and carpet. Deep cleaned Virgil’s bed,  _ made _ his bed all in time for Virgil’s laundry to be completely finished. All they had to do was put them away, so there they all were sitting on Virgil’s now  _ clean _ floor gabbering about whatever.

“Virgil, why do you have pink fluffy socks?” Janus mused, bundling them up and throwing them in the sock pile.

“Because they’re warm?” Virgil asked, trying to fold a shirt correctly and failing, Remus chuckled and shook his head while putting all the folded clothes away. Virgil’s room looked better now, and Virgil looked cleaned, but still malnourished. Once the pile was small enough for Janus and Virgil to handle on their own Remus excused himself.

“Where are you going?” Virgil asked, Remus only grinned and shimmied his shoulder.

“I’m going to fuck a whale.” Both his boys grimaced.

“Ew.” Janus muttered, as Virgil grimaced.

“I’m going to fuck a baby whale?Better?”

“EW! NO! Just go!” Both his boys groaning as Remus cackled, wandering away to the kitchen, where Logan was listening to a rambling Patton.

“And then Virgil said I was just the dad  _ friend _ ! Can you believe that? I don’t know what lies Remus has been telling him, but I feel like I am more of a Dad than Remus is. That’s a big part of me!” Patton muttered, while trying and failing to make soup. Even Remus could see it from here, that he wasn’t cooking everything properly.

“Patton, he raised Virgil and Janus. I think that  _ qualifies _ him as a dad.” Logan responded trying to fix Patton’s mistakes from the soup.

“How could he even think that was a good idea! He’s literally the embodiment of intrusive thoughts! All that nasty stuff.” Patton grimaced while adding, a bit too much salt into the broth. Logan noticed and looked around to see if he could try to delude the broth, but ultimately slumped forward. Remus waved his arm a little bit and got Logan’s attention, who immediately looked guilty. 

“Patton, Remus is still part of Thomas and is also a filter to the intrusive thoughts.” Logan continued the conversation, Remus then summoned lemons, potatoes, rice and pointed to the soup. Logan seemed to have gotten the message and added the potatoes in. Potatoes would help delude the salt, so would have the lemon juice and rice.

“I just don’t like it Logan. What gives Remus the idea that he could possibly be a  _ real  _ father?” Now that struck a chord for Remus. He has never tried to take away Patton’s father title, nor gloat about being the perfect father. Remus stepped into the kitchen leaning on the counter, Logan noticed him but focused on fixing the soup.

“What makes you think you’re a real father?” Remus spoke, causing Patton to turn around, his face slightly flushed.

“I  _ am _ the father figure, I-” Remus held up a hand and Patton stopped talking.

“Who did you raise?” It was a simple question, Virgil and Janus were raised by him, but he had a hard time believing that Logan would listen to Patton as children.

“What?” Patton asked, clearly confused. Remus sighed and bent his head a little too far to one side for it to be natural.

“Who did you raise, I raised Virgil and Janus. They still actively call me “Dad” to this day, so answer the question.” Patton flushed a little bit from Remus’s comment, Logan stayed quiet in his little corner, still tending to the soup.

“No one.” Patton admitted. “But that doesn’t change the fact that I am still the father of this family.” Patton pouted a bit, did he not realize how childish he was being?

“Patton,” Remus started off gently. “You are the parent friend, you like to play pretend as one. There’s nothing wrong with that,” He said, Patton stiffen and Logan watching from the corner of his eye. “But you need to realize that pretending and being a father are two different things, Patton you need to realize that you could do more harm than good.” Remus explained very carefully. Patton began to tear up, his face going through confusion and realization.

“I don’t want to hurt my kiddos,” He whispered. “I want to take care of them and keep them safe!” He cried out, his tears slowly falling. Remus embraced him in a hug.

“You care very deeply about them, and that is a good trait to have, but you could hurt them by playing pretend too much.” Remus explained softly, Patton broke down nearly falling to his knees if Remus wasn’t there to catch him.

“I’m sorry,” Patton blubbered, Remus held onto him, rubbing his back while ignoring all the possible ways to snap his back and twist it wrong.

“It’s ok, it’s ok,” Remus shushed him, gently rocking him side to side while walking out of the kitchen.

“No it’s not.” Patton cried into Remus' shoulder. Remus turned toward Logan who was unashamedly watching the interaction.

“Watch the soup, and get some french bread out to go with it.” Logan nodded and turned back to the dinner and did as Remus told. Still holding Patton as he walked out to the living room, where Roman was sitting and noticed them.

“Woah Padre! Are you ok?” Roman walked up to Patton, who immediately started wailing and saying sorry over and over again.

“He’s fine, we just faced some hard truths, and Logan is finishing up dinner while we calm down together. Why don’t you go see if Logan needs help?” Roman wanted to argue, but the look Remus gave him made it pretty clear it  _ wasn’t _ a suggestion. Roman left and Remus could hear the hushed voices of Roman and Logan, although that wasn’t what was important. What was important was not trying to think about popping Patton’s eyeballs out with his fingernails. 

“I-I’m s-s-s-sorrry.” Patton cried again, his wailing calmed down a bit but was still crying. Remus sighed and raked his fingers through Patton’s hair as he sat them down on the couch. Patton calmed himself a little bit more, and was genuinely surprised that Remus smelled like trees and rainfall.

“Shh, it’s ok, well it’s not ok, but you understand your mistake and now we can move forward and do better, to be better.” Ok, so maybe Remus stole that a little but from Virgil and Roman’s interactions. Patton shook his head and slumped into Remus a little bit more, he wasn’t used to being cared for and he quite enjoyed it. Even if it was coming from Remus.

“I’m sorry.” Patton said clearly, his tears stopped but his face was still red and puffy.

“I know you are, but once you’ve calmed down and after dinner you could go to everyone and apologize. I’m sure they will forgive you.” Remus rubbed Patton’s back as he felt the older side slump into him a little bit more. Remus groaned internally as he realized that he was the only seemingly emotionally responsible side in Thomas’s mind. 

“I’m sorry.” Patton whispered, Remus sighed and held onto him tighter.

“Patton it’s ok, after dinner-”

“No, Remus. I’m sorry, I’m sorry for how I treated you, for talking behind your back, for not giving you a proper chance.” Patton looked him in the eye while talking, Remus wanted nothing more than to mash his glasses and use the glass to cut him.

“Patton,” Remus started carefully, “It’s ok, it’s in the past now, you’ve realized your mistake.” Patton nodded and let Remus hold him for a few more minutes until Remus realized Patton fell asleep on him. Carefully Remus maneuvered Patton off of him and laying on the couch, he walked back into the kitchen where Roman and Logan were hovering over the soup pot, whispering. Remus wasn’t going to pry, instead he was going to go check on his kids. Walking back up to Virgil’s room, they were just laying on his bed, his dark curtains back on the window. Just laying in the dark, listening to music, Remus snapped his fingers and little purple fairy lights lit up the room. 

“Hi Dad,” Janus greeted as Virgil gave a little wave. Remus smiled and joined them on the clean bed.

“Your room looks great Virgey-Wergey,” He heard Virgil gag at the nickname as Janus chuckled, causing him to get a pillow to the face.

“Seriously though, how are you feeling?” Virgil took a second to think and gave Remus a small sad smile. 

“I feel a little bit better, mostly tired though. I just want to sleep forever and never wake up.” Remus nodded his head as Janus frowned a little bit.

“I feel like that sometimes too, bucko.” Remus stated, Virgil snorted and leaned onto Janus a bit.

“Yeah, but I feel like that everyday, it’s not like I want to duck out again. But if I could just sleep without having any nightmares like that for the rest of time. I wouldn’t complain.” Virgil sighed as Janus grabbed him into a hug, Remus joined in as well. They sat like that for a while until they heard Logan call for them for dinner.

As they all piled down to the table, soup was served with bread and a salad that Roman and Logan made together. It went very well in Remus’s opinion, he didn’t even say half of what was going on inside of his head. Like how he could cook Roman perfectly, or how he could have ripped Logan’s fingernails out, or how he could cut out each and every single scale Janus had or-

Then again, that wasn’t what was important now was it? What was important was making sure Patton apologizes after dinner and having a small discussion with Roman about his room.

For now though, they could enjoy a nice dinner with friendly banter going back and forth.


	3. New Rules, that are kind of good?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before Remus could help Roman clean his room, everyone needs a good night's sleep.
> 
> And he means everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is 1:55am in the morning.
> 
> I kind of want to die, but that's fine.
> 
> Although some of Remus's thoughts get bad in this chapter, so be wary.
> 
> I feel like throwing up as well, but here enjoy.

“Roman  _ Creativity _ Sanders! Get back here this instant!” 

Roman ran faster up the stairs trying to get to his room, finally he made it to the door but found it was locked.

“No,no,no.” Roman tried to pry it open, forgetting he was running away from someone, who just so happened to grab him by the back of his collar. He was then turned around to face Remus, who was able to hold him up by his shirt.

“Roman we are having this discussion,” Roman struggled in his grip as Remus just sighed and walked back downstairs, still holding Roman by the collar. Once they got back downstairs, Janus and Virgil had to hold back their giggles when Remus placed Roman down next to them.

“I hate this.” Roman muttered, Remus just rolled his eyes and ruffled his hair. 

“Well too bad, you and everyone else are going to listen to this.” Remus looked around to make sure everyone was here, Roman, Logan, Patton, Janus, and Virgil. “Every single one of you seems to lack the ability to take care of yourselves. Even if you have Janus to watch over you, this snake barely takes care of himself without me.” Janus looked away, a blush creeping up on his neck as Virgil nudged him.

“Why are you telling them this Remus?” Janus muttered, as Virgil and Patton leaned on him from the couch.

“I’m telling them this as an example.”

“An example for what?” Logan asked abruptly, who immediately shut up when Remus looked at him.

“So that it’ll lessen the blow.” Remus responded looking back at everyone and smiling. “Until you guys have proven yourselves capable, I’ll be looking after you all.” As Remus expected there was a bit of an outcry. 

“Hey, none of that now. Virgil and Roman can barely keep their room’s clean, Patton can’t cook, and I can take a safe bet that all of you have a horrible sleeping schedule.” Remus smiled as they all looked away ashamed, except for Logan and Janus.

“Surely Janus wouldn’t need you assistance, he is an embodiment of self preservation?” Logan asked. Remus let his head fall over to one side, his grin growing.

“Janus is Thomas’s self preservation. His only concern is Thomas, there has been multiple occasions I have caught him working himself to the bone for Thomas.” Remus explained as Janus tried to sink into his own seat, hiding his face from the others.

“Look, I’m not gonna take over or do anything stupid. I’m just gonna make sure you guys are alive.”

“Remus I’m sure we can take care of ourselves-”

“Logan you are a caffeine addict, Roman’s room is a mess, Virgil is depressed, Patton has been repressing more of his feelings, and Janus is a work-aholic.” Remus crossed his arms as Logan shut his mouth, and he stared down anyone else who tried to speak up. “Tonight you guys should try and go to bed early no later than ten thirty, at least. Tomorrow, Roman,” Roman perked his head up at his brother. “We are deep cleaning your room.”

“My room is-”

“If you try to lie to me, I swear to god Roman.”

“Alright fine, we’ll clean it.” Roman slumped into his spot a little bit. Remus sighed and raked a hand through his head, he just wanted to pull his head and  _ smash _ it against the wall. Sadly, he didn’t think the others would approve of blood splattering the walls.

“Enjoy your leisure time, and remember no later than 10:30 sharp.” Everyone muttered agreements and the evening continued on. Remus decided to take some time in his room, to clean up a little bit and place an extra bed next to his. Roman’s room was going to stay locked and as far as Remus knew only in his and Roman’s room had doors to the imagination. 

He also took this time to sort through his papers, and ideas. They were mostly drawings of gruesome violence and sex. Of course he had an actual plot behind them, he just never wrote them down, that was more of Roman’s area. He started to file them all away, until he got to one section of his drawings that made him want to tear his stomach out and pour gasoline on it and light it on  _ fire _ .

The drawings he had to write out, the ideas he needed to stay out of his head. 

The drawings of his family, being mutilated in all different kinds of ways. 

How horrifying.

An alarm reminded Remus that it was ten minutes till ten thirty, not realizing how much time has passed. Remus decided to walk around to see who was getting ready for bed. He found Virgil and Janus brushing their teeth and talking as they finished up. Patton and Logan were already in pajamas and were in their rooms, all that left was Roman. Who was still in his princely outfit and staring at his locked door.

“Troubles in paradise?” Remus asked, making Roman jump. Roman blushed a bit and slouched, grabbing onto one arm.

“Where exactly am I supposed to  _ sleep _ ?” Roman asked, Remus sighed and moved an arm around him and led Roman to his room.

“You’ll be taking my room tonight, I have some clean pj’s you can wear.” Roman only nodded his head, too tired to fight back. Once In Remus’s room, Remus gave him plain pajamas and sent him to the personal bathroom to change. Then he put everything away, Roman walked out quietly and took the bed next to Remus’s bed.

“Hey, no get on the real bed.” Remus pointed at his bed, which was one hundred times more comfortable than the bed Roman was on.

“But it’s  _ your _ bed.”

“And you are my  _ guest  _ and  _ brother _ in  _ my _ room. You can sleep in my bed, I’ll take the other one. Besides mine is more comfy.” Remus stated, leaving no room for discussion. Roman awkwardly climbed into Remus’s bed and sighed in relief in how comfy Remus’s bed actually was.

“Thank you Remus.” Roman mumbled tiredly. Remus chuckled and looked back to his sleeping brother.

“No problem, get some sleep. I’m staying up for a little bit longer.” Roman mumbled a little bit more before falling into a deep sleep. Remus watched his brother sleep for a little bit, wondering how easy it would be to just put a pillow on top of him and  _ smother _ him. To watch him beg and cry out to be able to breath, until he stops moving.

He went to his desk instead to draw it out. After an hour or so he was finally able to sketch out some horrible drawings of Roman being murdered, maybe some with Thomas involved as well. He checked the time to see it was about midnight, and went to go check on the others.

Roman was obviously still asleep. He walked out of his room and immediately put an ear to Patton’s door. He could hear the small snores while he was asleep. Next was Janus, putting his ear against his door he could hear small hisses. Remus had to try and not giggle. Next was Virgil’s which was more difficult, he liked to listen to music while sleeping, he could faintly hear P!ATD playing, so as a precaution he opened the door a bit. Satisfied that he could see the small movements of Virgil breath and was in fact asleep. All that left was Logan, once Remus could see Logan’s door he became frustrated.

There was a light shining underneath Logan’s door, Remus brought an ear to Logan’s door to listen for any hope that Logan might have fallen asleep with the light on. Sadly, he could hear a pen scratching and Logan’s small muttering. Carefully he opened the door and was surprised to see bright colored  _ paper _ surrounding the desk. Slowly and as quietly as he could he walked up behind Logan’s desk, where Logan was hunched over. Looking closer at what he was working on, it was a schedule.

Of course it was, but it was a schedule for room check ups, for Virgil, Roman, Janus, for everyone including Logan and Patton. To make sure the rooms were respectively clean every two weeks, with everyone alternating each week. Remus didn’t know whether to be impressed or angry with the nerd. 

One side of his head wanted to bash Logan’s  _ head _ into the desk for not already being in bed, the other wanted to explain to Logan that this could have waited until morning. Remus pondered behind Logan for a moment, should Logan be punished for breaking the rules or should he be let go scott free?

Logan thrived off of a perfect schedule and for things to be perfectly organized and turned in on time. Of course he would want to make a schedule that would help this messy problem, and it would help not repeat said problem in the future.

Despite the little voices saying to  _ punish _ Logan, Remus decided it wouldn’t be worth it and would be more beneficial if he explained why Logan should be in bed. Deciding not to beat around the bush he tapped on Logan’s shoulder who jumped a foot into the air and spun around to see Remus standing there. Neutral face, arms crossed, just staring silently at Logan. They stared at each other for a moment or two before Logan spoke.

“H-How long have you been standing there?” Logan’s voice was small.

“Long enough to know that you’re working on a schedule.” Logan’s face burned brightly and immediately started to apologize.

“I’m sorry, I know you said ten thirty sharp, but I couldn’t help but think about Roman’s room and the bedbugs and I’m sure Virgil’s room wasn’t any better. But I thought if I could make a schedule that would help regulate keeping all of our rooms clean then this wouldn’t happen again, and-”

“Logan, breathe for me please.” Remus interrupted, grabbing Logan into a hug. Logan buried his face into Remus’s shoulder and took in a shuddering breath. “Good job, there you go. You’re not in trouble.” Remus ignored how easy it would be to  _ yank _ on Logan’s hair.

“I’m sorry, I know I should be in bed.” Remus swayed them for a little bit as he felt Logan’s racing heart slow down a bit.

“It’s ok, well it’s not, but you’ve explained yourself and that’s good enough for now. Come on, in the bed.” Remus waited for Logan to be in his bed laying down until Remus sat on the bed next to him. 

“I’m sorry.” Logan repeated in a small whisper, as if Remus would rescind his decision about a punishment. Remus sighed and raked his fingers through Logan’s hair making him relax a bit, and maybe even tear up a bit.

“I’m not mad, I’m not disappointed, just a little frustrated that you didn’t listen. I want you guys to have healthy sleeping patterns. Thank you for thinking of everyone, but I think this is something everyone needs to talk about in the  _ morning _ .” Remus continued to rake his fingers through Logan’s hair. 

Logan, while not being used to affection or kind words, started crying as Remus continued his motions. Remus couldn’t help but wonder how affectionate starved everyone was, he stayed like this with Logan until the nerdy side was asleep. Carefully he untangled his fingers, his heart wrenching like a stress ball being squeezed when Logan whined a little in his sleep. He walked out to be greeted by Virgil in the hallway.

“You should be asleep.” Was all Remus said, no matter what, he never punished Virgil for being awake. He knew the anxious side had trouble sleeping.

“Logan’s panic woke me up, I was outside the door the entire time.” Virgil shifted from one foot to another. Remus sighed again, he’s been doing that a lot lately, and walked Virgil back to his room. “Is he ok?” Virgil asked.

“Yeah, he was just making a schedule for room check in’s.” Remus explained and Virgil nodded his head, Remus gave him one last hug before sending him back into his room. Once Remus made it back to his own room he crawled into the extra bed. It wasn’t the comfiest but Remus has slept in worse places. He heard Roman shift around.

“Where’d you go?” Roman mumbled, sleep was heavy in his voice. Remus leaned over and raked his fingers through Roman’s hair, making him practically purr.

“Someone was awake, went to put them to bed. Go back to bed bro.” In a second, slumber overtook Roman. Remus rolled back over on the bed and stared at the ceiling, his thoughts wandering around his brain.

He decided that he has now adopted three new kids, an over emotional child, a child version of himself, and an emotional constipated child. Along with his spider and snake kids, Remus didn’t know how to deal with that thought. 

But that was another day’s problem, right now he needed to sleep. Hopefully he’ll have some wonderfully gruesome nightmares.

Morning came all too quick for Remus’s liking, he woke up to slight kicking in his legs. He tried to get up, to find Roman koala-ed onto him, snuggling into his side. Remus groaned and leaned his head back onto his pillow, he looked for his clock and found it was nine thirty in the morning. Vaguely he could hear people downstairs, so he grabbed onto Roman and lifted him up into his arms. Still asleep, Remus picked him up and walked them both downstairs; there he found Janus and Logan conversing, along with Logan’s schedule from last night next to two mugs. Remus nodded to them both as he headed towards the kitchen where thankfully the coffee was already started and a pot was already ready.

With Roman still latched onto him, Remus brought out his tentacles and made two cups of coffee, one for himself where he poured salt and one for Roman where he poured sugar and creme. Sitting down on the couch with their coffee, Remus gently shook Roman awake enough to hold and sip his coffee. Still unaware he was clinging onto Remus, who enjoyed the peace while it lasted. Finally Patton and Virgil walked down the stairs and immediately headed towards the kitchen for coffee.

Once they finally sat down with everyone, it was about ten to twenty minutes before Virgil asked about the schedules Logan had out. Then that’s when Logan began explaining what they were meant for, and how they could improve their situation. Everyone looked over the schedule and at this point Roman was more awake and was no longer clinging onto Remus. Instead he was leaning on him with his feet propped up on the side of the couch.

After about thirty minutes of a peaceful discussion they finally decided on a good enough schedule and Patton went off to work on breakfast, which Remus made Janus and Logan go help with. Virgil was still nursing his coffee, listening to Roman ramble on about some random idea he had. Remus looked over to the kitchen and back at his brother and kid, he decided they had enough time to get started.

“Hey, up.” He pushed Roman up a bit and made him walk up the stairs with him. Coffee all gone, looking back he saw Virgil slightly follow them, out of curiosity of course. Once they got to Roman’s room, Roman tried to walk away, but one of Remus’s tentacles caught him by the collar again.

“Nice try, come on.” Remus unlocked the door and walked in dragging Roman inside as well. The room was still as messy from the last time he saw it, without hesitation he summoned trash bags and a folder for Roman’s scatter work.

“Here,” Remus threw the folder at Roman. “Pick up whatever ideas you want to keep and put them in the folder, I’ll start on whatever trash I can find. Then we’ll move onto the laundry, and bed. After that we can vacuum and clean the carpet and walls.” Roman nodded wordlessly, Virgil snuck into the room, coffee gone.

“Can I help?” Virgil asked, Remus smiled and nodded. Summoning a laundry basket for Virgil. 

“Can you start picking up all the dirty laundry for me?” Remus asked, Virgil nodded and Roman let out an embarrassed ‘thanks’ as Virgil tapped his shoulder. By the time Patton called for breakfast, they were able to see the dirty floor. A few bags of trash, a giant thing of laundry, and an overfilled folder of ideas the floor could finally be seen! 

After washing their hands they made their way downstairs, to where pancakes were being served for breakfast with eggs and bacon. They all sat down, had some more coffee and enjoyed small conversations going across the room. Remus of course couldn’t contain all of his thoughts. Letting some small or gruesome thoughts out every once in a while.

After breakfast Remus took Roman back upstairs to finish up the room. Virgil decided to stay back and help clean up after breakfast, but Janus came to help instead. Janus took the trash out, Roman started on the laundry as Remus took care of the bed. He took all the blankets off and tied them in a plastic bag, then while looking at the bed he decided it wasn’t worth saving. He instead snapped it away, completely gone was the bed  _ and _ bugs altogether. He then snapped a new one, a bed that is much more plushier and softer and better for back support. 

Now that his brother has a new bed, he looked down at the carpet and summoned a vacuum and got started. It was even worse than Virgil’s room, whereas Virgil only needed to vacuum the carpet twice or three times, it took Remus ten times before finally being able to wash the carpet. At this point Roman and Janus returned, Remus smiled at them and stopped washing the carpet for a moment.

“Cool, now you guys can either clean the walls or start wiping the surfaces off.” Roman was the one to wash the walls as Janus wiped down every surface he could find. By the time they were all done, the laundry was done and needed to be switched out. Remus went to go do that as Janus and Roman. It gave Remus some alone time with his thoughts. He wanted to pull his teeth out and  _ throw _ them at Thomas, he wanted to pull Roman’s eyes  _ out _ , to watch Virgil  _ suffocate _ on toothpaste, and to watch Janus and Logan  _ die _ in a plane crash. Plane crashes were fun, people always died in horrendous ways in them. All bloody and mauled like a bear tearing someone apart-

“Dad?” Remus turned around to see Virgil standing in the doorway, Remus grinned and motioned him over as he finished up putting all the clothes in the dryer.

“What’s up spider?”

“You were muttering again.” Virgil mumbled, Remus sighed, again.

“Sorry, emo. Thoughts were a bit loud today. Figured muttering would help out a bit.” Remus said, leaning on the dryer as Virgil joined him.

“Did it work?” Remus didn’t respond right away, waiting to see what his head would say. Apparently nothing nice today, all guts and glory, literally.

“Yeah, a little. Might need to go to the imagination today and work it out, ya know?” Virgil nodded and they sat in silence. Hearing nothing but the slight thumping from the dryer, his thoughts stayed loud in the moment as well, but Remus refrained from talking or muttering about them.

Remus  _ sighed _ .


End file.
